Numerical predictions of natural convection in a trombe wall system

Abstract In a Trombe wall passive heating system, air from a room is circulated by natural convection through a narrow channel formed by a window on one side and a wall on the other. The circulating flow delivers the solar energy collected by the wall and window to the room. The present paper analyses an idealized Trombe wall system in which the flow is laminar and two-dimensional and the window and wall are isothermal. A dimensional analysis shows that, for a given geometry, the flow and heat transfer are characterized by two Rayleigh numbers. Flow and heat transfer predictions over a wide range of operating conditions were performed using a finite-volume method. These predictions are believed to be the first that fully account for the interaction between the room and channel, and which include the important case where the window temperature is lower than the room temperature.

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